Understanding crisis perception and organizational learning
A case study of school organizations in the COVID-19 pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14267/VEZTUD.2024.07-08.05Keywords:
crisis, organizational learning, COVID-19, education, learning in crisis, schoolAbstract
The research investigates the organizational dynamics of learning-in-crisis (LiC) in five Hungarian education institutions in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on digital competence building, and the influence of organizational perception of contextual factors. The path of organisation-level learning that takes place as a result of the crisis event was analysed along two factors: the extent of perceived impact and the relevance of the rare event. Results of the qualitative, interview- and observation-based research show that learning willingness is different in the face of an identical external impact, influenced by organizational and financial capacity, as well as autonomy and stakeholder maturity for change. The depth of learning is related to the strategic and cultural fit with the sought-after competence, as well as field of knowledge and the presence of parallel crises.
Downloads
References
Ahlström, B., Leo, U., Norqvist, L., & Isling, P.P. (2020). School leadership as (un)usual. Insights from principals in Sweden during a pandemic. International Studies in Educational Administration, 24(2), 35–41. https://edu.thecommonwealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ISEA-2020-482.pdf#page=41
Antonacopoulou, E.P., & Sheaffer, Z. (2014). Learning in Crisis: Rethinking the Relationship Between Organizational Learning and Crisis Management. Journal of Management Inquiry, 23(1), 5–21. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492612472730
Beauchamp, G., Hulme, M., Clarke, L., Hamilton, L., & Harvey, J.A. (2021). ‘People miss people’: A study of school leadership and management in the four nations of the United Kingdom in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 49(3), 375–392. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143220987841
Beck, T.E., & Plowman, D.A. (2009). Experiencing rare and unusual events richly: The role of middle managers in animating and guiding organizational interpretation. Organization Science, 20(5), 909–924. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1090.0451
Beckmann, L., & Klein, E.D. (2022). Resilience in the context of multiple adverse circumstances? Leadership capacity and teachers’ practice during COVID-19 at schools serving disadvantaged communities. School Leadership and Management, 43(2), 145–166.. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2022.2137727
Birkland, T.A. (2009). Disasters, lessons learned, and fantasy documents. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 17(3), 146–156. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2009.00575.x
Birkmann, J., Buckle, P., Jaeger, J., Pelling, M., Setiadi, N., Garschagen, M., Fernando, N., & Kropp, J. (2010). Extreme events and disasters: A window of opportunity for change? Analysis of organizational, institutional and political changes, formal and informal responses after mega-disasters. Natural Hazards, 55(3), 637–655. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-008-9319-2
Broekema, W., Porth, J., Steen, T., & Torenvlied, R. (2019). Public leaders’ organizational learning orientations in the wake of a crisis and the role of public service motivation. Safety Science, 113(March), 200–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2018.11.002
Broekema, W., van Eijk, C., & Torenvlied, R. (2018). The role of external experts in crisis situations: A research synthesis of 114 post-crisis evaluation reports in the Netherlands. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 31(March), 20–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.03.021
Delcker, J., & Ifenthaler, D. (2021). Teachers’ perspective on school development at German vocational schools during the Covid-19 pandemic. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 30(1), 125–139. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2020.1857826
Denzin, N.K. (2012). Triangulation 2.0. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 6(2), 80–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689812437186
Denzin, N.K., & Lincoln, Y.S. (2011). The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research. SAGE.
Deverell, E. (2009). Crises as learning triggers: Exploring a conceptual framework of crisis-induced learning. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 17(3), 179–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2009.00578.x
Elliott, D. (2009). The failure of organizational learning from crisis – A matter of life and death? Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 17(3), 157–168. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2009.00576.x
Elliott, D., & Macpherson, A. (2010). Policy and practice: Recursive learning from crisis. Group and Organization Management, 35(5), 572–605. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601110383406
Gaudet, S., & Robert, D. (2018). A Journey Through Qualitative Research: From Design to Reporting. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529716733
Gunawardena, C.N., & McIsaac, M.S. (2013). Distance education. In J.M. Spector, M.D. Merrill, J. van Merrienboer, & M.P. Driscoll (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (pp. 361–401). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.5688/aj7409172
Halász, G., Fazekas, Á., Fischer, M., Horváth, L., Kovács, I.V., & Pálvölgyi, L. (2019). DigiNOIR. http://halaszg.elte.hu/download/A DigfNOIR_stratégia_(2019.07.30).pdf
Hámori, B. (2012). Tanulás és innováció – Elméleti dilemmák és gyakorlati nézőpontok. Vezetéstudomány/Budapest Management Review, 43(11), 2–18. https://doi.org/10.14267/VEZTUD.2012.11.01
Huberman, A.M., & Miles, M.B. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. SAGE Publications Inc.
Jordán, Z. (2019). Az állami és egyházi fenntartású finanszírozásáról. Új Köznevelés, 75(9–10), 14–17. https://folyoiratok.oh.gov.hu/uj-kozneveles/az-allami-es-egyhazi-fenntartasu-iskolak-finanszirozasarol
Kopp, E., & Pesti, C. (2022). Organisational Learning and Resilience in Hungarian Schools During COVID-19 Distance Education – Study of Two Cases. European Journal of Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2022.2154205
Kvale, S. (2007). Doing interviews. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849208963
Lampel, J., Jamal, S., & Zur, S. (2009). Experiencing the Improbable: Rare Events and Organizational Learnin. Organization Science, 20(5), 835–845. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1090.0479
Lee, G.K., Lampel, J., & Shapira, Z. (2020). After the storm has passed: Translating crisis experience into useful knowledge. Organization Science, 31(4), 1037– 1051. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2020.1366
Lien, C.M., Khan, S., & Eid, J. (2022). School Principals’ Experiences and Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic in Norway. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 67(5), 775-790. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2022.2043430
Magyarország Digitális Oktatási Stratégiája. (2016). https://digitalisjoletprogram.hu/files/55/8c/558c2bb-47626ccb966050debb69f600e.pdf
McLeod, S., & Dulsky, S. (2021). Resilience, Reorientation, and Reinvention: School Leadership During the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in Education, 6(March), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.637075
Monostori, J. (2021). The school year 2020-2021 in Hungary during the pandemic - Country report. https://doi.org/10.2760/062696
Moynihan, D.P. (2009). From intercrisis to intracrisis learning. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 17(3), 189–198. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2009.00579.x
Navaridas-Nalda, F., Clavel-San Emeterio, M., Fernández- Ortiz, R., & Arias-Oliva, M. (2020). The strategic influence of school principal leadership in the digital transformation of schools. Computers in Human Behavior, 112(July). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106481
Pató Gáborné Szűcs, B., Dajnoki, K., Kovács, K., Kőműves, Z.S., Grotte, J., Szabó, S., Kunos, I., Metszősy, G., Hegedűs, H., Karácsony, P., & József, P. (2021). A HR válasza a koronavírus-járvány által okozta kihívásokra. Vezetéstudomány/Budapest Management Review, 52(8-9.), 2–17. https://doi.org/10.14267/VEZTUD.2021.09.01
Péteri, G., & Szilágyi, B. (2022). Egyházak a köznevelési költségvetésben. Educatio, 31(3), 461–478. https://doi.org/10.1556/2063.31.2022.3.8
Pogácsás, P., & Szepesi, B. (2023). A koronavírus hatása a magyar kis- és középvállalkozásokra. Vezetéstudomány/ Budapest Management Review, 54(2), 25–39. https://doi.org/10.14267/VEZTUD.2023.02.03
Radó, P. (2019). Market reforms in the Hungarian school system: impact of changes in the ownership structure. In NESET Ad hoc report no. 2/2019. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337874248_Market_reforms_in_the_Hungarian_school_system_impact_of_changes_in_the_ownership_structure_NESET_ad_hoc_question_No_22019
Radó, P. (2022). Közoktatás és politika. Magyarország 2010-2022. NORAN LIBRO.
Rerup, C. (2009). Attentional triangulation: Learning from unexpected rare crises. Organization Science, 20(5), 876–893. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1090.0467
Robin, E., Chazal, C., Acuto, M., & Carrero, R. (2019). (Un)learning the city through crisis: lessons from Cape Town. Oxford Review of Education, 45(2), 242–257. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2018.1551197
Saldaña, J. (2013). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Smith, D., & Elliott, D. (2007). Exploring the barriers to learning from crisis: Organizational learning and crisis. Management Learning, 38(5), 519–538. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507607083205
Starbuck, W.H. (2009). Cognitive Reactions to Rare Events: Perceptions, Uncertainty, and Learning. Organization Science, 20(5), 925–937. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1090.0440
Starbuck, W.H. (2017). Organizational learning and unlearning. Learning Organization, 24(1), 30–38. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-11-2016-0073
Weiner, J., Francois, C., Stone-Johnson, C., & Childs, J. (2021). Keep Safe, Keep Learning: Principals’ Role in Creating Psychological Safety and Organizational Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in Education, 5(January), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.618483
Zaalouk, M., EL-Deghaidy, H., Eid, L., & Ramadan, L. (2021). Value creation through peer communities of learners in an Egyptian context during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Review of Education, 67(1–2), 103–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-021-09892-z
Zancajo, A., Verger, A., & Bolea, P. (2022). Digitalization and beyond: The effects of Covid-19 on post-pandemic educational. Policy and Society, 41(1), 111–128. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/polsoc/puab016
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Corvinus University of Budapest, publisher of Vezetéstudomány / Budapest Management Review
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors assign copyright to Vezetéstudomány / Budapest Management Review. Authors are responsible for permission to reproduce copyright material from other sources.